by liberal japonicus
While the main action probably centers around the observations of Chris Hayes, (google news here), I was in the wikipedia page about Memorial Day and thinking about some questions of national culture, which are below the fold
One thing is that the notion of a nation mourning seems to be an Anglo-American feature, with the corresponding day in the UK and the Commonwealth as Remembrance Day, which is celebrated on November 11th, corresponding to the Armistice of WWI. (Australia and New Zealand have developed a parallel day called ANZAC Day)
I may be wrong, I only lived in France for a year, but I don't think that the French Jour du souvenir has quite the impact that the Anglo-American celebrations have, taking Remembrance Day and Memorial Day as facets of the same collective urge. (In Russia, a country which might have a similar claim to developing such public day of remembrance after WWII, the equivalent holiday, Protector of the Motherland Day, seems to have undergone some interesting twists)
Here in Japan, there is no day of remembrance, but Buddhism requires a serious commitment to memory when people die, with basically three sets of funeral rites. The first is a series of daily and monthly rituals tied to the day of passing. (7 days, 49 days and 100 days are common, but there are other variations). In addition, the family sends out a special New Year's card asking that people not send them New Year's cards for that year.
Then there are rites held according to the calendar. where the family visits to the grave site at the hometown during a holiday called Obon (which has echoes of our Halloween, in that the Obon festival is supposed to be the time when the spirits of the dead return to their families).
Finally, special festivals are organized on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th year and then on specific years up til either 39 years after or 50 years after. For this reason, in the 80's, there were a number of stories covering families going either to Southeast Asia or South Pacific islands for these types of evens.
I think all of this should be seen as a commitment to the memory of person who has passed away, and that is what I presume all funeral rites are somehow related to.If that is true, I think it gives us some insight to the special place of Memorial Day in the US and Remembrance Day in the UK and Canada and ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand. The US Memorial Day has its origins in the Civil War, while Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day have their origins in WWI and it seems to me that both of those days are because the cultures were overwhelmed by the number of dead, such that shifting the burden to having a nation remember rather than each individual family do was why these days are such institutions.
So the point I'd like to suggest on this holiday is not that you have to think of servicemen and women who gave their lives, or to kick back against that notion, but to realize that these are days where the private dealings with grief, the mourning that is traditionally kept within the family, yield to circumstances that break down that fenced in measure of grief. Though it may be part of human nature to celebrate martial heroism in some way, the need to have a day like this is in part because unnatural to have so many young people taken out of the community.
In Germany we have http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkstrauertag>Volkstrauertag but I'd bet that a majority of the population is unaware of it and does not know the date even if they have heard of it. The protestant churches have http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totensonntag>Totensonntag one week after that.
I actually like it that the population has essentially dropped any observation of that old cult of the (war) dead since there was always at least a hint of "They will be avenged" and often far more than that.
Posted by: Hartmut | May 29, 2012 at 11:13 AM
Is it just me or is there something particularly cruel about this sort of thing? (warning: video link with commercial beforehand)
Sure it makes for good TV, but if I had been away from my kids for 6 months, producing some propaganda (but the feel good kind!) for Major League Baseball would not be first on my agenda.
Posted by: Ugh | May 29, 2012 at 03:32 PM
I spent 27 years as a physician in the Army. In that time, I cared for soldiers who died as a result of horrendous wounds that are unimaginable in a civilian setting. I also worked with soldiers who had been wounded but continued to serve despite missing limbs and other organs. The one who haunts me the most is the young man who lost both legs (at the pelvis) most of his hands, some vision, some hearing, part of his intestine, and other lesser injuries. Lew somehow lived and went to school and earned a law degree. He provided invaluable assistance to me in my job at the Pentagon. In the early 1990s, his pain, depression, and addictions led to his suicide. I mess him and the others too much to express.
Posted by: Edward T Haines | May 29, 2012 at 06:16 PM
Thank you for your service, Dr. Haines.
Posted by: Countme-In | May 29, 2012 at 07:05 PM
It seems to me that a lot of the conversation on Memorial Day is not about remembering the people who died while in military service at time of war, but of giving thanks to those currently living and in one of the services. Mission shift?
Posted by: Laura Koerbeer | May 29, 2012 at 10:02 PM
I've posted Memorial Day and Remembrance Day - with less precision and enthusiam as time wears on. My father and uncles were veterans...who advised I not enter military service except as a response to invasion and 'for the duration of the emergency' when I had 3 years of cadet training.
U.S. law supports that idea...in theory.
Doug's Darkworld and Vagabond Scholar both have articles worth noting.
http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2012/05/29-may-dougs-darkworld.html
A picture is worth a thousand words
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0jMxDE-i8Ys/T8SJhSgoT1I/AAAAAAAAAWo/JGtQ-7BNNuk/s1600/529670_382115418476365_275683962452845_1183759_1506935906_n.jpg
Posted by: opit | May 30, 2012 at 11:29 AM
I am of course remembering Andrew Olmsted and the price he paid. May God's hand be in his, always.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | May 31, 2012 at 08:49 AM